Dee Benson
Encyclopedia
Dee Vance Benson is a Federal judge and former chief judge
for the United States District Court
for the District of Utah. He was briefly a professional soccer player. He was nominated as judge by President
George H. W. Bush
on May 16, 1991, and confirmed by the United States Senate
on September 12, 1991. In May 2004, Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
appointed Judge Benson to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a seven year term.
Benson was born in Sandy, Utah
and graduated from Jordan High School
. In 1973, he received a B.A.
from Brigham Young University
, and a J.D.
as a member of the charter class of the J. Reuben Clark Law School
at Brigham Young University
in 1976. That year he also played professional soccer with the Utah Golden Spikers
of the American Soccer League
. He later stated that it made him “realize that I didn’t have a future in professional soccer.”
From 1976 to 1984, Benson practiced law in private practice. He was a Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution from 1984 to 1986. He was a Chief of staff, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch from 1986 to 1988. He was a Counsel, Iran-Contra Congressional Investigating Committee in 1987. He was an Associate deputy U.S. attorney general from 1988 to 1989. He was a U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah from 1989 to 1991.
Benson was a federal judge to the United States District Court for the District of Utah
. Benson was nominated by President George H.W. Bush on May 16, 1991, to a new seat created by 104 Stat. 5089. He was confirmed by the United States Senate
on September 12, 1991, and received his commission on September 16, 1991. Benson served as chief judge of the district from 1999 until 2006.
Currently, Judge Benson presides as a federal judge for The United States District Court
located in the Utah District (October 20, 2010).
native and current resident. He was born, along with his identical twin brother, Lee Benson, on August 25, 1948 in Sandy, Utah. After graduating from Jordan High School, Mr. Benson attended Brigham Young University
in Provo, Utah
, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1973, majoring in Physical Education with a minor in Political Science. That same year, Mr. Benson became a member of the charter class at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. While in law school, he served as the editor for the BYU Law Review. Mr. Benson went on to receive his Juris Doctorate in the spring of 1976.
In addition to his legal studies, Judge Benson played professionally in the American Soccer League
which has since been disbanded. He was a member of Utah’s team, The Golden Spikers
. With soccer as a passion and an affinity for teaching, Judge Benson started and coached the first soccer team at Hillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah.
During his eight year tenure at Snow, Christensen, Judge Benson took a two-year leave of absence to accept a position with the construction company Ralph M. Parsons Company
based in Pasadena, California. With Ralph M. Parsons, he lived in a developing Saudi Arabia
n city known today as Yanbu. His duties as legal counsel for Parsons included reviewing contracts as well as handling lawsuits that arose with general contractors and employees. Legally, this was a complex assignment given the fact that there was no official court system and the country generally followed Sharia
Law.
From 1984 through 1989, Judge Benson served in various U.S. government posts in Washington, D.C, included the following:
In 1989, Judge Benson was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah. He was recommended to the post by his former boss, Senator Orrin Hatch
after the then-U.S. attorney Brent Ward
stepped down. (The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Utah has compiled historical information on those who have served in this position. Full Interview with Judge Benson regarding his tenure as U.S. Attorney). Mr. Benson’s recommendation was further supported by Senator Jake Garn
and by U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh. He was initially sworn in under an interim appointment on March 7, 1989. He received a presidential nomination from President George H.W. Bush and confirmation by the U.S. Senate before being officially sworn in on August 8, 1989. The Senate confirmation was considered uneventful and non-contentious. Judge Benson held this post until 1991.
Benson also holds adjunct law school professorships at Brigham Young and the University of Utah
law schools, and teaches courses on criminal trial practice and evidence at the respective schools.
Through his appointment in 2004 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington, D.C., Judge Benson travels to the nation’s capital every 10 weeks to participate in court sessions. He will serve in this capacity until 2011 when his seven-year term will expire.
Mike Lee, Republican U.S. Senate candidate in 2010 in Utah, served as a law clerk to Judge Benson in 1997.
to two years in prison for disrupting an oil auction in 2008. Benson had barred DeChristopher's defense team from explaining to the jury why he disrupted the auction. Critics have accused Judge Benson for doling a harsh sentence to DeChristopher. Peter Yarrow
, the folk singer, and member of Peter, Paul, and Mary, wrote in an editorial for the Los Angeles Times, that DeChristopher's actions were comparable to leaders of the civil rights movement.
as follows: “This treatise examines each article of the Utah Rules of Evidence in a practitioner-friendly format. The current language and relevant legislative history for each article is presented, followed by checklists and an analytical overview of the Utah case law and United States Supreme Court cases interpreting each evidentiary rule. Differences that may exist between the state and federal rules of evidence are also outlined.”
, et al.: Case No. 2:09-cv-435 and 2:09-cv-440.
This lawsuit was filed by three energy companies along with the Utah counties of Carbon, Uintah and Duchene against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and related federal authorities. The case involved 77 gas and oil drilling leases that were cancelled by Secretary Salazar in February 2009. The plaintiffs sought to overturn the action by Secretary Salazar. Judge Benson ruled in favor of Salazar because the lawsuit was not filed within the statute of limitations mandating the filing of any challenge within 90 days of the Secretary’s decision. He did, however, acknowledge that, “In this case, the secretary exceeded his statutory authority by withdrawing leases after determining which parcels were to be leased and after holding a competitive lease sale.” Also in his ruling Judge Benson stated, “The plain language of the Mineral Leasing Act mandates the Secretary of Interior to accept bids and issues leases as part of the competitive leasing process for oil and gas leases. Ultimately though, the plaintiff’s claims are time barred.”
The United States of America vs. Tim DeChristopher
: Case No. 2:09-CR-183.
Tim DeChristopher was indicted in U.S. Federal District Court for bidding on Federal energy leases without intent to pay for them. He claimed that he did so as an act of civil disobedience. In March, 2011, after a four-day jury trial, DeChristopher was convicted and "faces up to five years on each of the two counts — disrupting a federal auction and making false statements on federal forms to enter the auction — and up to $750,000 in total fines. Sentencing was set for June 23. ... Judge ... Benson strictly limited how much the defense could say about federal energy policies and climate change, which Mr. DeChristopher has said in numerous interviews were his primary motivations in going to the auction." The prosecutor in the case was Assistant United States Attorney Scott B. Romney. On July 26, 2011, Benson sentenced DeChristopher to two years in prison and a fine of $10,000.
The Salt Lake Tribune, et al. vs. Elaine Chao
, The U.S. Secretary of Labor, et al.: Case No. 2:07-cv-739.
This suit was commenced by several Utah media organizations seeking access to documents relating to the Crandall Canyon mine
collapse that killed six miners and three rescue workers in Utah. In dismissing the complaint, Judge Benson noted that, "It is not this court's or any other court's role to make law, only to interpret it." Plaintiffs contended that public access to the investigation would help insure accuracy. Judge Benson stated in his ruling, "The court finds many of these policy arguments persuasive," Benson wrote, but said it was not his place to make such decisions. "While it may be true that requiring all government investigations to be open would result in greater accountability and more accurate information, if such a requirement is to be imposed, it must come from a statute that is debated and passed by Congress and signed into law by the president.”
Summum vs. Duchesne City, et al.: Case No. 2:03-cv-1049. Summum
is a religious group that sued the City of Pleasant Grove, Utah for the right to install a monolith containing their core beliefs next to an existing monolith of the Ten Commandments. The group contended that their First Amendment
Rights were violated by the existence of the Ten Commandments monument. Judge Benson ruled against the group, holding their right to free speech had not been violated. The case was then appealed and heard by the Tenth Circuit Court who overturned Judge Benson’s previous decision. Rather than allow Summum to place their monolith, the City of Pleasant Grove removed the Ten Commandments monolith. The case was then accepted and heard by The Supreme Court of the United States. The Court issued a unanimous ruling (No. 07-665) in favor of the city of Pleasant Grove No. 07–665 on February 25, 2009. The court found that monuments that were privately funded were considered government speech and therefore not in violation of any one group’s First Amendment rights. In his opinion, Justice Samuel Alito
analogized that, if the law accorded with Summum and its "civil liberties" supporters, New York City would have been required to accept a Statue of Autocracy from the German Empire or Imperial Russia when it accepted the Statue of Liberty from France.
Caldera vs. Microsoft: Case No. 2:96-cv-645 B. This case mirrored the much larger anti-trust case against Microsoft
in Washington D.C. Utah based Caldera Corporation brought the anti-trust suit against Microsoft for the anti-competitive practice of encoding Microsoft Windows 95 to only run properly if MS-DOS, a Microsoft product, was being used. Caldera’s claim was that this practice unfairly inhibited the competition by eliminating DR-DOS as an alternative. Justice Benson denied 4 Motions for Summary Judgment by Microsoft to have the case dismissed. The case was eventually settled by the parties.
An avid road biker, Benson competed in the LOTOJA
bike race in 2008.
He served a two-year mission
in Sweden for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Benson's twin brother, Lee Benson
, is a newspaper columnist for Salt Lake City's Deseret Morning News
.
Federal judge
Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state / provincial / local level.-Brazil:In Brazil, federal judges of first instance are chosen exclusively by public contest...
for the United States District Court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
for the District of Utah. He was briefly a professional soccer player. He was nominated as judge by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
on May 16, 1991, and confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on September 12, 1991. In May 2004, Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
William Rehnquist
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...
appointed Judge Benson to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a seven year term.
Benson was born in Sandy, Utah
Sandy, Utah
Sandy is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah....
and graduated from Jordan High School
Jordan High School (Sandy, Utah)
Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah was established in 1907.-1907 - 1914:Jordan High School took root when a student body of just seven students began meeting in the basement of a church in Midvale. The enrollment numbers quickly grew, and soon it was necessary to move the students and faculty into...
. In 1973, he received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
, and a J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
as a member of the charter class of the J. Reuben Clark Law School
J. Reuben Clark Law School
The J. Reuben Clark Law School is a professional graduate school located in Provo, Utah at Brigham Young University. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, Jr.—former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and LDS Church General Authority—and its charter dean was former...
at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
in 1976. That year he also played professional soccer with the Utah Golden Spikers
Utah Golden Spikers
The Utah Pioneers was an American soccer club based in Salt Lake City, Utah that was a member of the American Soccer League.The team was renamed the Utah Golden Spikers halfway through their only season.-Year-by-year:...
of the American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
. He later stated that it made him “realize that I didn’t have a future in professional soccer.”
From 1976 to 1984, Benson practiced law in private practice. He was a Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution from 1984 to 1986. He was a Chief of staff, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch from 1986 to 1988. He was a Counsel, Iran-Contra Congressional Investigating Committee in 1987. He was an Associate deputy U.S. attorney general from 1988 to 1989. He was a U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah from 1989 to 1991.
Benson was a federal judge to the United States District Court for the District of Utah
United States District Court for the District of Utah
The United States District Court for the District of Utah is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Utah...
. Benson was nominated by President George H.W. Bush on May 16, 1991, to a new seat created by 104 Stat. 5089. He was confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on September 12, 1991, and received his commission on September 16, 1991. Benson served as chief judge of the district from 1999 until 2006.
Currently, Judge Benson presides as a federal judge for The United States District Court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
located in the Utah District (October 20, 2010).
Early life and education
Judge Benson is a UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
native and current resident. He was born, along with his identical twin brother, Lee Benson, on August 25, 1948 in Sandy, Utah. After graduating from Jordan High School, Mr. Benson attended Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
in Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1973, majoring in Physical Education with a minor in Political Science. That same year, Mr. Benson became a member of the charter class at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. While in law school, he served as the editor for the BYU Law Review. Mr. Benson went on to receive his Juris Doctorate in the spring of 1976.
In addition to his legal studies, Judge Benson played professionally in the American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
which has since been disbanded. He was a member of Utah’s team, The Golden Spikers
Utah Golden Spikers
The Utah Pioneers was an American soccer club based in Salt Lake City, Utah that was a member of the American Soccer League.The team was renamed the Utah Golden Spikers halfway through their only season.-Year-by-year:...
. With soccer as a passion and an affinity for teaching, Judge Benson started and coached the first soccer team at Hillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah.
Legal career
Upon graduation from BYU, Mr. Benson accepted a position with a Salt Lake City firm then known as Parr, Brown where he stayed less than one year. He was then offered and accepted a position as a litigator with the firm Snow, Christensen and Martineau, where he remained until 1984.During his eight year tenure at Snow, Christensen, Judge Benson took a two-year leave of absence to accept a position with the construction company Ralph M. Parsons Company
Parsons Corporation
Parsons Corporation is an engineering, construction, and technical and management services firm headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1944 by engineer Ralph M. Parsons, Parsons Corporation is currently one of the largest such companies in the United States, with revenues exceeding...
based in Pasadena, California. With Ralph M. Parsons, he lived in a developing Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
n city known today as Yanbu. His duties as legal counsel for Parsons included reviewing contracts as well as handling lawsuits that arose with general contractors and employees. Legally, this was a complex assignment given the fact that there was no official court system and the country generally followed Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
Law.
From 1984 through 1989, Judge Benson served in various U.S. government posts in Washington, D.C, included the following:
- Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution from 1984-1986 – Notable issues that arose during his employment included The Balanced Budget Amendment.
- Chief of Staff to Senator Orrin Hatch from 1986-1988
- Counsel to the Iran-Contra Congressional Investigating Committee 1987, where he helped write the minority report with Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
. - Associate Deputy Attorney General to Deputy Attorney General Harold G. Christensen; Christensen was his former senior partner at Snow, Christensen
In 1989, Judge Benson was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah. He was recommended to the post by his former boss, Senator Orrin Hatch
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch is the senior United States Senator for Utah and is a member of the Republican Party. Hatch served as the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 2005...
after the then-U.S. attorney Brent Ward
Brent Ward
Brent Ward is a New Zealand-born rugby union player. A product of Auckland Grammar School and the Auckland University club, he plays for Auckland in the ITM Cup, making his debut in 2002 against Southland...
stepped down. (The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Utah has compiled historical information on those who have served in this position. Full Interview with Judge Benson regarding his tenure as U.S. Attorney). Mr. Benson’s recommendation was further supported by Senator Jake Garn
Jake Garn
Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn is an American politician, a member of the Republican Party, and served as a U.S. Senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993...
and by U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh. He was initially sworn in under an interim appointment on March 7, 1989. He received a presidential nomination from President George H.W. Bush and confirmation by the U.S. Senate before being officially sworn in on August 8, 1989. The Senate confirmation was considered uneventful and non-contentious. Judge Benson held this post until 1991.
Benson also holds adjunct law school professorships at Brigham Young and the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
law schools, and teaches courses on criminal trial practice and evidence at the respective schools.
Judicial career
In May 1991, Judge Benson was nominated for a federal judgeship to the United States District Court by George H.W. Bush. This seat was new for Utah, created by Congress in 1990, along with 84 others throughout the country. Judge Benson went on to be confirmed by the Senate and began serving on September 16, 1991. He held the position of Chief Judge of the District Court from 1999 to 2007.Through his appointment in 2004 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington, D.C., Judge Benson travels to the nation’s capital every 10 weeks to participate in court sessions. He will serve in this capacity until 2011 when his seven-year term will expire.
Mike Lee, Republican U.S. Senate candidate in 2010 in Utah, served as a law clerk to Judge Benson in 1997.
Controversial decisions
In 2011, Judge Benson sentenced eco-activist Tim DeChristopherTim DeChristopher
Tim DeChristopher is an American climate activist and co-founder of the environmental group . On December 19, 2008, he protested an oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah's redrock country, conducted by the Bureau of Land Management...
to two years in prison for disrupting an oil auction in 2008. Benson had barred DeChristopher's defense team from explaining to the jury why he disrupted the auction. Critics have accused Judge Benson for doling a harsh sentence to DeChristopher. Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...
, the folk singer, and member of Peter, Paul, and Mary, wrote in an editorial for the Los Angeles Times, that DeChristopher's actions were comparable to leaders of the civil rights movement.
Publication
Judge Benson is the co-author of a textbook on evidence, described by online retailer West ThomsonWest (publisher)
West publishes legal, business, and regulatory information in print, and on electronic services such as Westlaw. Since the late 19th century, West has been one of the most prominent publishers of legal materials in the United States...
as follows: “This treatise examines each article of the Utah Rules of Evidence in a practitioner-friendly format. The current language and relevant legislative history for each article is presented, followed by checklists and an analytical overview of the Utah case law and United States Supreme Court cases interpreting each evidentiary rule. Differences that may exist between the state and federal rules of evidence are also outlined.”
Selected rulings
Impact Energy Resources, LLC, et al. vs. Ken SalazarKen Salazar
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martinez were the first Hispanic U.S...
, et al.: Case No. 2:09-cv-435 and 2:09-cv-440.
This lawsuit was filed by three energy companies along with the Utah counties of Carbon, Uintah and Duchene against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and related federal authorities. The case involved 77 gas and oil drilling leases that were cancelled by Secretary Salazar in February 2009. The plaintiffs sought to overturn the action by Secretary Salazar. Judge Benson ruled in favor of Salazar because the lawsuit was not filed within the statute of limitations mandating the filing of any challenge within 90 days of the Secretary’s decision. He did, however, acknowledge that, “In this case, the secretary exceeded his statutory authority by withdrawing leases after determining which parcels were to be leased and after holding a competitive lease sale.” Also in his ruling Judge Benson stated, “The plain language of the Mineral Leasing Act mandates the Secretary of Interior to accept bids and issues leases as part of the competitive leasing process for oil and gas leases. Ultimately though, the plaintiff’s claims are time barred.”
The United States of America vs. Tim DeChristopher
Tim DeChristopher
Tim DeChristopher is an American climate activist and co-founder of the environmental group . On December 19, 2008, he protested an oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah's redrock country, conducted by the Bureau of Land Management...
: Case No. 2:09-CR-183.
Tim DeChristopher was indicted in U.S. Federal District Court for bidding on Federal energy leases without intent to pay for them. He claimed that he did so as an act of civil disobedience. In March, 2011, after a four-day jury trial, DeChristopher was convicted and "faces up to five years on each of the two counts — disrupting a federal auction and making false statements on federal forms to enter the auction — and up to $750,000 in total fines. Sentencing was set for June 23. ... Judge ... Benson strictly limited how much the defense could say about federal energy policies and climate change, which Mr. DeChristopher has said in numerous interviews were his primary motivations in going to the auction." The prosecutor in the case was Assistant United States Attorney Scott B. Romney. On July 26, 2011, Benson sentenced DeChristopher to two years in prison and a fine of $10,000.
The Salt Lake Tribune, et al. vs. Elaine Chao
Elaine Chao
Elaine Lan Chao served as the 24th United States Secretary of Labor in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. She was the first Asian Pacific American woman and first Chinese American to be appointed to a President's cabinet in American history. Chao was the only cabinet...
, The U.S. Secretary of Labor, et al.: Case No. 2:07-cv-739.
This suit was commenced by several Utah media organizations seeking access to documents relating to the Crandall Canyon mine
Crandall Canyon Mine
The Crandall Canyon Mine, formerly Genwal Mine, was an underground bituminous coal mine in northwestern Emery County, Utah.The mine made headline news when six miners were trapped by a collapse in August 2007. Ten days later, three rescue workers were killed by a subsequent collapse...
collapse that killed six miners and three rescue workers in Utah. In dismissing the complaint, Judge Benson noted that, "It is not this court's or any other court's role to make law, only to interpret it." Plaintiffs contended that public access to the investigation would help insure accuracy. Judge Benson stated in his ruling, "The court finds many of these policy arguments persuasive," Benson wrote, but said it was not his place to make such decisions. "While it may be true that requiring all government investigations to be open would result in greater accountability and more accurate information, if such a requirement is to be imposed, it must come from a statute that is debated and passed by Congress and signed into law by the president.”
Summum vs. Duchesne City, et al.: Case No. 2:03-cv-1049. Summum
Summum
Summum is a religion and philosophy that began in 1975 as a result of Claude "Corky" Nowell's claimed encounter with beings he described as "Summa Individuals"...
is a religious group that sued the City of Pleasant Grove, Utah for the right to install a monolith containing their core beliefs next to an existing monolith of the Ten Commandments. The group contended that their First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
Rights were violated by the existence of the Ten Commandments monument. Judge Benson ruled against the group, holding their right to free speech had not been violated. The case was then appealed and heard by the Tenth Circuit Court who overturned Judge Benson’s previous decision. Rather than allow Summum to place their monolith, the City of Pleasant Grove removed the Ten Commandments monolith. The case was then accepted and heard by The Supreme Court of the United States. The Court issued a unanimous ruling (No. 07-665) in favor of the city of Pleasant Grove No. 07–665 on February 25, 2009. The court found that monuments that were privately funded were considered government speech and therefore not in violation of any one group’s First Amendment rights. In his opinion, Justice Samuel Alito
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
analogized that, if the law accorded with Summum and its "civil liberties" supporters, New York City would have been required to accept a Statue of Autocracy from the German Empire or Imperial Russia when it accepted the Statue of Liberty from France.
Caldera vs. Microsoft: Case No. 2:96-cv-645 B. This case mirrored the much larger anti-trust case against Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
in Washington D.C. Utah based Caldera Corporation brought the anti-trust suit against Microsoft for the anti-competitive practice of encoding Microsoft Windows 95 to only run properly if MS-DOS, a Microsoft product, was being used. Caldera’s claim was that this practice unfairly inhibited the competition by eliminating DR-DOS as an alternative. Justice Benson denied 4 Motions for Summary Judgment by Microsoft to have the case dismissed. The case was eventually settled by the parties.
Personal life
Benson is the father to three daughters and one son.An avid road biker, Benson competed in the LOTOJA
LOTOJA
The LoToJa Bicycle Classic is a 206-mile , one-day amateur bicycle road race from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY, USA. It is usually held in September the first Saturday after Labor Day, and attracts national and International participants...
bike race in 2008.
He served a two-year mission
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
in Sweden for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Benson's twin brother, Lee Benson
Lee Benson
Lee Benson is a columnist for the Deseret News. He has covered at least nine Olympic Games for the paper and has written columns on Mormon. He has also co-authored a book with James W...
, is a newspaper columnist for Salt Lake City's Deseret Morning News
Deseret Morning News
The Deseret News is a newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is Utah's oldest continuously published daily newspaper. It has the second largest daily circulation in the state behind The Salt Lake Tribune. The Deseret News is owned by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of...
.